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Bearcats Breakfast 9.28.11

I know most of you are in football mode right now and focusing on the rivalry with the RedHawks, but if you want to get your rivalry blood pumping early, there are few things better than cheering against Xavier for a few hours to fill a Wednesday night.

UC hosts XU in men's soccer at Gettler Stadium tonight at 7 p.m.

The Bearcats are battling injuries right now, but haven't lost at home to the Muskies in 28 years. Should be well worth popping in for.

Don't say I never gave you anything.

Let's eat....--- Yesterday afternoon I posted this notebook from the Tuesday lunch with a bunch of quality stuff from Isaiah Pead. Bill Koch posted this story with more of the good stuff from Isaiah. He was very resolute about the N.C. State win being a turning point and pointed out the specific difference the team feels toward Jones this year compared to last.

Seeing what's been preached play out in a 44-14 ownership of the Wolfpack will bring those feelings to the surface, I suppose.

--- No doubt UC iscatching Miami at the right time. They are coming off a third consecutive loss to start the season. They fell at home to Bowling Green on Saturday.

Last week Miami QB Zac Dysert was sacked six times and they've had a punt blocked in each of the last two games.

Remarkably, Miami has failed to convert a PAT in each of their three games. The offensive line started two freshmen because of injuries last week and experienced more movement than the BCS conferences.

Offensive line trouble is the last thing Miami needs considering how much they hope to throw it with Dysert. It's become a necessity because the running game has been non-existent. They are currently ranked 118th in the country in rushing offense.

Still, Jones insists UC is far from looking past the RedHawks.

"When you are 4-8, every game should be a motivating factor," he said. "Our team needs to stay focused on the task at hand. We are not good enough to
look down the road. We still have a lot of holes in our program but you can
overcome that by having great chemistry, by playing with great physical and
mental toughness and executing."

--- Hard not to think about this day one year ago. The Reds clinched the division in the most incredible night Great American Ball Park has ever seen. We really felt great then. Now? Not so much.

--- A list of the25 best sports movies. --- Last night was about as disappointed in a 30 for 30 documentary I have been. Catching Hell on the Steve Bartman debacle took an awful turn. For some reason, the director thought he should selfishly interject his own personal feelings about how what happened to the Cubs was just like what he felt when the ball went through Bill Buckner's legs So he hijacked about 25-30 minutes of the documentary talking about Buckner and the '86 Sox. Unreal.

All the Bartman stuff was great, but if you have it on DVR, keep fast forwarding til you aren't seeing Boston on your screen anymore.